“Mountlake Terrace Library is the cornerstone of our community,” Deputy Executive Director of Sno-Isle Libraries David Durante told the Mountlake Terrace City Council at its Thursday night work/study session.

The meeting began with a presentation from Durante and Mountlake Terrace Library Manager Kristin Peipho. Durante provided the council with a brief overview of what the library provides as well as some updated services that have been implemented in the past few years.

According to Durante, the library’s website is now offered in seven languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese, and has been updated to provide easier accessibility in all languages.

In addition to the updates on the website, Peipho said that post-COVID, the library is offering a number of programs once again, such as reading hours, reading to service dogs, book clubs and arts and crafts time for children.

In 2022, the Mountlake Terrace Library had over 100,000 visitors, Peipho said.

Councilmember Laura Sonmore said she’s impressed with all the programs that are being offered at the library but wanted to know if any tutoring services were available as well.

“Not that you don’t do enough already,” she said.

Peipho told the council that while no in-person tutoring services were currently being offered, there were services available online for course difficulties all the way up to college-level.

“You can also get feedback on resumes,” she said. “Oftentimes a specific class isn’t as helpful as that one-on-one assistance.”

Mountlake Terrace Mayor Kyoko Matsumoto Wright said she wanted to let people know about the free Wi-Fi that’s accessible at the library. Residents can bring their own laptop or borrow a laptop from the library to use the internet. In addition, laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots are available for checkout as well in case someone needs to take their work home with them.

“There are a lot of people out there that have no idea that you can go to the library and get free Wi-Fi,” Matsumoto Wright said.

Peipho also let the audience know that if anyone had mobility or transportation issues, they could also go online to the library’s website and request books in the mail.

In other business, Recreation and Parks director Jeff Betz came before the council to discuss two other agenda items. The first thing he talked about was the amendment to the city’s agreement with Snohomish County 911.

The 40-year agreement started in 1983. Betz said while 911 staff have mainly used the facility they have in Everett, they plan on maintaining the lease on their Mountlake Terrace facility because it’s used often for training exercises as well as in emergencies. The amendment would extend the current Mountlake Terrace lease, now ending on Dec. 31, 2023, by six months.

Betz also talked about an easement needed for the monopole that is located by the city’s water tower. Earlier in 2023, the council signed an agreement to allow DISH Networks to attach their equipment to the monopole. However, the site is not set up for additional equipment.

“To allow this additional equipment, they need more power,” Betz said. “They need PUD to bring in more transformers and get more power on site. Thus, we need an easement with PUD to get that equipment.”

Both of these items will come before the council again at their Tuesday, June 20 meeting (a day later than usual due to the Juneteenth holiday) for council approval.

The meeting will be in Mountlake Terrace City Hall, 23204 58th Ave. W. To attend the meeting online, go to https://zoom.us/join and enter the meeting ID 897 2790 9105 and the passcode: 98043.

To listen via telephone, call 1-253-215-8782 and enter the same meeting ID and passcode.

You also can view livestreamed meetings and past video recordings at www.youtube.com/cityofmlt.

–By Lauren Reichenbach